Blair OTR Comments Expose Process’ Heart of Darkness

“According to the former Prime Minister the scheme whereby Republican terrorists were issued with get out of jail free cards was “absolutely critical to the peace process” and “essential to getting Sinn Féin on board.”

“Any process of which the blatant subversion of the criminal justice system was a critical component is fundamentally rotten to the core. Blair’s comments should give the most ardent supporter of Stormont pause for thought.

“For all the secrecy which still surrounds the OTR scheme – we still don’t know the names of those who received letters or the crimes of which they were suspected, both of which were demanded by Peter Robinson in order to avert his resignation as co-First Minister – it is obvious that it was a prerequisite for Sinn Fein to support the PSNI.

“To put it simply – Republicans agreed to support the police in return for a guarantee that they would no longer go after IRA terrorists.

“So much for the DUP’s boast in 2007 that they had forced Sinn Fein to accept the rule of law!”